


A Stitch, and Time

by Word_Devourer



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Featuring Marinette as the only person who knows what's going on here, Featuring Plagg destroying... Time itself?, Featuring significant but not graphic violence, Groundhog Day Loop, Iterative Problem Solving, Plans Executed to Perfection, Take 'major character death' with a grain of salt, Time Loop, Time Travel, Which is to say Chat Noir keeps dying but it's a clean death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-01 17:30:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17871674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Word_Devourer/pseuds/Word_Devourer
Summary: Marinette is having the best day ever, until suddenly, she very much isn't.Things go as badly wrong as they can, but she's been blessed with an ally who doesn't care too much about what rules he breaks to protect one of his only friends.If it's Adrien's life on the line, Plagg will break time itself, to get Marinette where she needs to be, and more importantly, when she needs to be.





	1. The Best Day Ever

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, I churned this chapter out in under an hour because I had a mighty need for it, and now, it's almost 3AM, and I have a mighty need to go to bed.

And then...

 

Marinette woke up, feeling well rested.

Her alarm was playing the song Clara Nightingale had written in her honor; waking up to it still hadn’t gotten old.

She sat up in bed, and yawned.

“Good morning, Marinette!” said Tikki, who seemed to have already been up.

“Good morning, Tikki,” said Marinette.

She looked down at the clock.  She could afford to sleep in an extra few minutes, but as it happened, she didn’t even feel like it.

Today was going to be a good day.  She could feel it.

She pushed open the window.  For a second, she just breathed in the morning air, and then…  She stepped back, laughing, as a gust of wind blew her hair into her face.

Carefully straightening out her hair, she stepped back, and went to put on her clothes for the day.

She’d just gotten her shirt on when her phone buzzed.

_ACes: Hey Marinette, I bet you’re still asleep, but when you get up, remember to bring your notes for 2 nd period, alright?  Mine went missing, and I want to look over something before the test._

_MariDC: I’m up!  And trust me, for a test like this, even_ I _wouldn’t forget to bring my notes._

_ACes:  Marinette, up on time?_

_ACes: It’s got to be a miracle._

_MariDC: I certainly am a miraculous kind of girl._

_ACes: lol_

Marinette, satisfied that Alya hadn’t cottoned to the _actual_ joke, replaced her phone in her pocket.

She slipped downstairs, two steps at a time.

“Well, good morning, Marinette!” said her father.

“Morning, Dad!”

She slipped past him in the kitchen, and grabbed the lunch she’d bagged for herself last night.

“Heads up!” called her father, and she narrowly managed to catch the heel of a loaf of bread.

“I know that look,” he said, “that’s the look of a girl on the move, with no time for breakfast.”

She laughed.  “Thanks.”

She stepped out the door, to the sight of a less than crowded street.

Of course, things couldn’t be _quite_ perfect; a man in a yellow sweater knocked into her, and she staggered back.

“Oh dear!” he said, “My apologies, miss.  I sometimes forget to watch where I’m going.”

As soon as the daze cleared from her mind, she smiled back.  “Don’t worry about it!” she said.

No, that wasn’t going to spoil her mood.

She turned, and started off down the road.

The rest of the walk was uneventful.

Marinette stepped into the school.

Her classmates were there in full force.  Was this what it felt like to be _early?_   Marinette could get used to it.

Kim, attempting to make baskets while Max stood there with a timer, speaking intently with Markov.

Nino, over by the entry to the locker room, talking animatedly on the phone.

Ivan, slouched against a wall, expression a bit less dour than usual.

A flash of pink caught her eye up above, Rose rushing over to greet Juleka, who had just gotten to the top of the stairs, practically tackling her with a hug.

And if she paid attention, she could just about make out Marc coming out of the art room, head still in his notebook.

A quick stop in at the locker room revealed Mylene, deftly fixing one of the braids in her hair.  She nodded as Marinette came in.

Now… She _had_ the notes for Alya already, but she also needed…

She gathered what she needed, and, turning came face to face with Adrien, as he was on his way to his own locker room.

She practically jumped, but managed to rally valiantly.

“G- Good morning Adrien!”

He seemed delighted to see her.

“Good morning Marinette!  You ready for the exam?”

“I’ve,” she said, “got a good feeling about it!”

He laughed.  “Well, hopefully you’ve got enough luck for both of us,” he lifted his arm up, bringing her lucky charm into focus around his wrist.

She laughed, the sound nervous, but at least recognizeable.

“I… Will see what I can do!” she said, managing to sound almost confident.

“Thanks, Marinette,” he said, with a wink.  “You’re a real lifesaver.”

That was kind of her job now, wasn’t it?

She slipped past him, and out of the locker room.

The grin spread across her face as she realized she’d had almost a full conversation with Adrien Agreste, without any help.

She strode into homeroom, ready to take on whatever came her way.

“You weren’t kidding!” said Alya, “You really _did_ get up early.”

She shrugged.  “Hey, some days are good days, you know what I mean?”

Alya laughed.  “Yeah, I do.  Sunny, breezy, warm, but not too warm.  I think everyone’s in a good mood today.”

“I bet even _Hawkmoth_ is in a good mood today.”

“Are you kidding?  There’s got to be, like, _nobody_ to akumatize.  He’s got to be furious!”

Marinette laughed.  “Right.”  She shook her head, the laughter fading slowly.  “Alright, but about those notes…”

Marinette would admit that she didn’t pay the most attention during first period; what could she say, it was a review period, and Alya was busy reviewing for the _next_ class, which involved a certain amount of ‘hey, Marinette, about the bit where it says…’

Marinette, for her part, didn’t mind the distraction.  It certainly didn’t hurt to have a distraction from the moment when Kim loudly announced that he had to go to the bathroom.

Marinette gave Alya a _look_ as Kim practically _strutted_ out of the room.

Alya just shrugged.

Finally, though, the class ended, and they stood up.

“You ready?” asked Alya.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” said Marinette.  “I mean, I need to grab my calculator, but other than that, bring it on!”

She split off from Alya to head down to the locker room.

 

And that, was the moment when things began to go horribly, catastrophically, wrong.

As Marinette took her… What, 5th step?  6th step?  Still most of the way up the stairs, she heard a girl scream.

Her head snapped to the sound, as the crowd shuddered, and started running.

She managed to hold her ground for only a second, before being swept up in the crush.

It had to be an Akuma.

It had to be.

The students scattered as soon as they hit the bottom of the stairs, and as she made it down, too, she realized that she had to get out of sight.

Okay.  Okay, she could do this.

She turned, and pressed against the flow.

Nobody else had though to turn here, so when she made it into the locker room, it was practically deserted, only one confused and scared boy hiding close to the back wall.

She looked back, and saw…

It was like, a gigantic spider, with a human torso.  It?  She?

As Marinette looked, she reached down and pulled up… That was Alya.  That was Alya, and Marinette was here, and she couldn’t move, and…

The spider leaned down, and seemed to whisper in Alya’s ear.

A flash of black, and Chat Noir’s baton came down.

_Right._

Marinette turned, and bolted for the bathroom.

“Tikki?” she said.

Tikki simply nodded.

“Spots on.”

Out the window, up, around; couldn’t let herself be seen by the boy who’d seen her go in.

She made it to the roof.

“Oh, I’m sure she’ll be here soon enough,” said Chat Noir, all flair and bravado.

“Not soon enough,” said the villain, voice almost familiar, “not soon enough for you, and _not soon enough,”_ her hand raised, and Marinette saw a flash of silver above Alya.  A _needle, “Not soon enough by far for her.”_

“No!” shouted Chat Noir, his baton distracting her with a slap across her face.  “Sorry, Rachna, but not today.  _Cataclysm!”_

She’d use her Lucky Charm in a second, but for now, she’d be better used up close.

She leaped, ready to bring her yo-yo to bear.

And then…

She landed, an image splattered across the inside of her mind.  Not real.  Surely not real.

The needle came up, and her yo-yo wrapped around it.

Red.  Stained red.

Chat Noir let out a pained gasp.

She lost her grip on the cord of her yo-yo, as Rachna _pulled._   She turned, and saw him, eyes wide, mouth open.

“I… Huh,” he said, and then his face contorted, and he _screamed._   She stepped back as he clutched at his wrist.

The Cataclysm was shuddering, the same black particles flaring off of it.  But this time they were mixed with the ash that…  That came when a Cataclysm was _used._

His hand vanished, and as the ring fell to the ground, not even audible over the scream, she staggered back.

Bereft of the ring that held the Cataclysm, Chat Noir froze, screaming suddenly missing.

His face went gray, first the gray of old, burned paper, and then the near black of charred wood.

He crumbled before her eyes.

The room was deadly silent.

The needle slipped down, and through the ring.

“So that’s all it takes,” said Rachna.  “I’ll have to try it again.”

Marinette looked up, to see the needle coming up, and she couldn’t stop it, she didn’t have time, or the mind, or-

_“No,”_ came a quiet voice, utterly commanding, and the world fractured.

The needle was frozen in place.  Everything was frozen in place, except for her, and…

“Ladybug,” said Plagg.  “You want to fix this, don’t you.”

“I…”

“Or… No, this has to be the first time, because you transformed.”

The seeming bubble around them _cracked_ more sensation than sound.

“Save him.  I don’t care what you have to do.  Maybe you break some rules, _it doesn’t matter._   Trust me, I’m breaking bigger ones.”

“Save…” she said, the word a shudder.

“And when you get the chance to save him, just remember you’ll need to be quick to purify the Akuma, since you won’t have any chance to transform before.”

_“What are you talking about!?”_

The bubble _cracked_ again.

Plagg grimaced.  “Looks like I’m out of time.  Just let me know what you remember next time you see me, and if you can, fix things quickly.”

He raised a tiny hand, and his whole body _flared_

Marinette’s vision, senses, _everything_ was burning, black, or white, or both, or neither.

And then...

 

Marinette woke up, not feeling very well rested.


	2. The Worst Day Ever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is forced to face the reality that she really is living the day over again.

Her alarm was playing the song Clara Nightingale had written in her honor; waking up to it still hadn’t gotten old.

She sat up in bed, already too awake from what _had_ to have been a nightmare.

A silence.

“Tikki?”

Tikki didn’t respond.

“Tikki!?”

Still, nothing.

She looked down at the clock.  She could afford to sleep in an extra few minutes, but as it happened, she didn’t even feel like it.

With a dream like that, it didn’t look like a good day was coming.

She pushed open the window.  For a second, she just looked, hoping Tikki would miraculously reappear…  She stepped back, coughing, as a gust of wind blew her hair into her face.

She was almost shaking, now.  She’d had bad dreams before, even ones where bad things happened to Chat Noir, but _this…_   This was different.

Surely.  Surely a coincidence.  Surely _something_ was happening, a side-effect of using a Miraculous, or…

She got dressed for the day.  A gust of wind in her face was nothing that couldn’t be a coincidence, right?  Tikki might just have forgotten to tell her where she was going, or, or… Or _something._

She had just gotten her shirt on when her phone buzzed.

She froze.

_Please.  No._

She looked down.

_ACes: Hey Marinette, I bet you’re still asleep, but when you get up, remember to bring your notes for 2 nd period, alright?  Mine went missing, and I want to look over something before the test._

Marinette could have cried.

She wanted to deny it, to believe anything else.  Surely, it was a dream, the memories were so foggy, and surely it just _seemed-_

She let out a pained groan as her earrings burned, searing hot.  As the burning stopped, her mind seemed to clear.

Not a dream.  A memory, from the future.

There was no room for doubt left in her mind, now.

There _was_ room, however, for the dazed sensation that apparently accompanied time travel, though.

She had, from now, maybe an hour and a half, before Rachna attacked again.  If that happened… Would Chat Noir still… Still die?  What would it take to change the outcome?

_‘You’ll need to be quick to purify the Akuma, since you won’t have any chance to transform before.’_

That’s what Plagg had said.  Tikki was missing, and… probably _inside the earrings_ right now, just where she’d been when Marinette had been sent back.

As she put her shirt on, she closed her eyes, hoping…

“Spots on?” she said.

Nothing.

Ladybug hadn’t managed to do this transformed, and now she had to do it as Marinette.

No.

She was _going_ to do it as Marinette.

There was no time to waste, then.

She rushed downstairs, two steps at a time.

“Well, good morning, Marinette,” said her father.

She went for the door, but-

“Hold up!” he called, and she turned.  Her bagged lunch landed, along with a heel of bread, in her arms.

“I know that look,” he said, “that’s the look of a girl on the move, with no time for breakfast.”

She managed a nervous to laugh.  “That’s right, Dad!  Busy day ahead!”

He nodded proudly.  “And I’m sure you’ll knock it out of the park.”

She certainly hoped so.

She stepped out the door, to the sight of a less than crowded street.

A man in a yellow sweater knocked into her, and she staggered back.

“Oh dear!” he said, “My apologies, miss.  I sometimes forget to watch where I’m going.”

It looked like she hadn’t even gained a second over yesterday (Or was it today?  What did you call it?).

She managed a hurried, ‘Don’t worry,’ as she slipped past him, and down the street.

The rest of the walk, thought it was more of a run, was uneventful.

Marinette stepped into the school, out of breath, but still filled with nervous energy.

Her classmates were there in full force.  She was ahead of yesterday’s schedule, but she still felt late.

Max, calling instructions to Kim, who seemed about ready to start shooting hoops.

Nino, about to walk into the locker room, pulling out his phone.

Ivan, slouched against a wall, expression a bit less dour than usual.

Juleka stepped silently past Marinette, making for the stairs.

And if she paid attention, she could just about make out Nathaniel and Marc at the door to the art room taking a picture of the courtyard as a whole.

A quick stop in at the locker room revealed Mylene, taking careful stock of her braids, one of which just might have been messed up.  She nodded as Marinette came in.

Okay…  She was here, with a bit of extra time… But what was she supposed to do?  She didn’t know where the villain was coming from, or who they were, or… Anything.

She could just make noises and hope she caused enough chaos to change things?  But that would still leave Chat Noir to fight Rachna alone, and she didn’t like that idea.

What was she even doing in the locker room?  Wasn’t there something better she could be-

She practically jumped, as the door knocked into her from behind, but managed to rally valiantly as she turned and found herself mere inches from Adrien’s face.

“G- Good morning Adrien!”

He seemed delighted to see her, not even bothering to back away.

“Good morning Marinette!  You ready for the exam?”

“I,” she said, “I’m going to give it everything I’ve got!”  Of course, at this point, she wasn’t talking about the _exam,_ per se.

He laughed.  “Me too!  And if that’s not enough, hopefully you’ve got enough luck for both of us,” he lifted his arm up, bringing her lucky charm into focus around his wrist.

She laughed nervously.

“I… Will do what I can!” she said, managing to sound almost confident.  Again, it didn’t feel like she was talking about the exam.

“Thanks, Marinette,” he said, with a wink.  “You’re a real lifesaver.”

Adrien walked past her, whistling.

“I sure hope so,” she said, and left the locker room.

Okay.

So, she had to take on the villain, right?  Or…  Maybe she could _stop_ the villain from being akumatized?  Or… There was so much she didn’t know, hadn’t _seen._ Had the needle been the thing to break?  Was there something else?

The panic had started in _her_ classroom, judging by the screams, so maybe she needed to stick around?

How many retries did she have?

She needed to learn as much as possible.

She sat down at her desk.

So, she knew:

  1. The attack had happened _in this class._
  2. That meant either it had been someone _in_ this class, or _against_ someone in the class.
  3. And… Rachna had taken Alya.
  4. Alya had… Gotten someone Akumatized?



 “Marinette, at school on time?  It’s a miracle!” said Alya, and Marinette looked up.

She stared intently, and Alya gave her a confused look.

“You there?  You seem a bit out of it.”

Her lips moved silently.

“Did you at least get my message about my notes?”

“Did you make anyone angry recently?”

Alya blinked.  “What?”

“Did you make anyone _really angry_ recently.  Or, maybe sad.  Did you make anyone feel bad?”

Alya turned her head, visibly concerned and confused.

“You alright there, Marinette?”

“Alya, this is _important._   Did you do anything to make yourself a target?”

Alya stared blankly, and her baffled amusement seemed to drain away as she realized that Marinette was serious.

“Uh… I don’t… I don’t think so?”

Marinette sat back, mind trying to churn through her situation.

If Alya had made herself a target, she didn’t seem to know it.

Had Rachna really been going for _her?_

What had she _said?_

Marinette closed her eyes, focusing intently.

She gasped as her earrings burned again, the memories clearing.

-

“Oh, I’m sure she’ll be here soon enough.”

“Not soon enough.  Not soon enough for you, and _not soon enough, not soon enough by far for her.”_

-

Either she’d had a vendetta against Alya, or she’d simply… Needed to kill?

And the voice had been familiar.

Alya, was shooting her concerned glances, even as she skimmed through the notes.

_She’d almost died._

“Marinette?”

She turned to face her friend.

“Why does it matter so much?”

She hesitated, and then… Well, what harm could it do?

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Because I woke up this morning remembering _exactly_ what happens in it.  Chat Noir dies, and now it’s _my_ job to make sure he doesn’t.”

Alya stared at her, face searching, but otherwise utterly inscrutable.

After an interminable time, she straightened up.

“You’re… Serious.”

She turned over the notes.

“When?”

“At the end of first period.”

“Why do you need to know if I’ve made anyone angry?”

“Because Rachna goes for _you._   You probably would have… You would have died if my memories went any longer.”

Some of the blood drained from Alya’s face.

“I really hope I’m wrong, and you’re joking.  I really…” she took a breath.  “Okay.  Okay, I’m just going to assume you’re serious, because… If nothing else, you wouldn’t risk this test over _nothing.”_

Marinette shook her head.

Alya put her face in her hands.

“Okay… What have I done recently,” she muttered.

Her mouth moved silently, and Marinette waited.

“Today, I don’t think I did anything,” said Alya, “And… I think it takes a few minutes for an Akuma to get to a victim, right?  How long after class ended?”

“Not long.”

She nodded. “Then it wasn’t after class.  I would have been busy studying the whole time, right?”

Marinette nodded.  “Unless…” she looked at the front of the class.

Alya shook her head.  “She doesn’t mind us studying _that_ much.”

A few more minutes of silence.

“Oh,” said Alya, straightening up.

“What?”

Alya pulled out her phone.  A few taps, and she turned the screen to Marinette.

Marinette was about to read what she’d pulled up, yesterday’s Ladyblog update, but as Alya turned, Marinette followed her gaze, to…  An empty chair.

Lila was missing, and Alya seemed concerned about it.

She turned to the article.

_‘An Apology To My Readers:’_

Marinette skimmed down.

It was a written apology to her readers for disseminating poorly sourced information.

Specifically, for an interview, with Lila Rossi.

“That’d do it.  No liar likes being exposed, a good one least of all.”


	3. Third Time's The Charm?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is finally beginning to get the hang of this time trouble. Not to say that she's out of the woods yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, I've written an ending to this story that I would absolutely use if I was just a little bit more cruel. Don't worry, it'll be bonus content, so you won't have to miss out on the experience.

_It was a blur.  Alya had believed her, yes, but the problem was that the crush of the crowd had left her a sitting target for Rachna, which meant that-_

The world fractured, with Marinette looking up at Alya, and the look of utter terror on her face as the needle came for her chest.

“Ladybug,” said Plagg.  “You want to fix this, don’t…”

He turned to look at her.  He closed his eyes for an instant.

“This is your second time, right?”

Shaking, Marinette managed to look away from her friend, and from the grey dust that was all that remained of Chat Noir.

“Yes.”

Plagg looked around, at the bubble they were in.

“I’m not big on questions, but… I don’t want to do this too many times, so you might as well ask away.”

_Questions._

“How can I transform?”

Plagg looked sharply at her.

“There’s a window where I can split things properly.  Once you get past that, you can fit things back together, and you’ll be able to transform again.”

“Fit things back together?”

“ _Time._   I’m literally fracturing the timeline, here.  Trust me, you don’t want me to do it too often.”

“What… What happens if you do it too often?”

“I can only do it so many times, and then you’re stuck with one of them. The sooner you fix things, the easier it’ll be to pick the right one, and the less things start to bleed through.”

Marinette wanted to back away, but…

“I’m still on a time limit.”

Plagg nodded, grimly.  “Just make sure he survives _once.”_

She clenched her fists.

She didn’t want to, but…

“Who is Chat Noir?”

Plagg grimaced.

“Can’t say his name out loud.  Can’t really say much about him.  He’s a hopeless romantic with-“ he choked, “Oh, come on, that could be… Fine.  You… know him.  I’ve… given up being surprised that people… Including you… Don’t recognize him.”

A _crack._

“That’s all I’ve got.”

“How am I supposed to fight a villain like this?”

Plagg rolled his eyes.  “ _Please,_ we’ve both seen the stuff Tikki gives you to work with.  This should be easy.”

_Crack._

Plagg grimaced.  “Looks like I’m out of time.  Try to fix things quickly.”

Her senses burned again.

…

Marinette woke up, not feeling very well rested.

Her alarm was playing the song Clara Nightingale had written in her honor; It was a good song, but at this point, she wouldn’t have minded something else.

There was the barest instant where she could have believed it had all been a dream, and then-

Her earrings burned, and she gasped in pain as her memories cleared.

Right.

Time to get to work.

She jumped down from her bed.  For an instant, she contemplated skipping getting dressed, but, _no._   Pajamas weren’t conducive to much of anything.

She pulled her shirt on, and bolted down the stairs, 3 at a time.

 “Well, good morning, Marinette!” said her father.

“Morning, Dad!” she said, bolting out the door, “No time to talk!”

“What about your lunch!” came his voice back through the open door.

“No time!” she called back, as the door closed behind her.

She practically sprinted down the street, mind already trying to look ahead of her.

 _Rachna_ was _coming for Alya, no doubt.  She’d been in the middle of the crowd, functionally nondescript, but Rachna had still come straight for her._

_So Alya was the target, Chat Noir was the tangential victim._

Her phone rang.  She didn’t pick it up.  Why would she?

 _It was possible that she could simply have Alya delete the post…? No. Lila had already stayed home, surely that meant she’d_ already _read it, and was staying home on purpose._

_If she could keep Alya out of reach… Maybe Chat Noir wouldn’t be forced to rush in so much?  He might survive a bit better, maybe buying Marinette time to transform?_

_But even if she transformed, Rachna was out for blood.  Her best bet was still to find a way to short circuit the fight_ , _and for that she needed…_

_She needed to know what to break._

Marinette stepped into the school.

Her classmates were there in full force, but today, she decided to ignore them.  She _needed_ to… Where was Alya?

Nino looked down at his pockets, hand retrieving his phone.

Marinette already had a guess even before he smiled at the caller ID.

“Hey, dude,” he said.

…

He laughed, “Sorry, man, I’m already here, and, you won’t believe this, but so is Marinette.”

“ _Is that Alya?”_

He practically jumped at the intensity of her question.

“Uh…  Yeah?”

“Tell her I _need to talk to her as soon as she gets to school._ I’ll be in the locker room.”

“I-  Yeah, sure,” said Nino, “do you have the notes, by the way.”

She shook her head.  “Yes, but…  Just tell her to meet me, okay?  It’s urgent.”

“Sure thing, dude,” said Nino, clearly concerned, but too polite to ask.

She stepped into the lockers.  _What now?_

She had Alya on the way, perfect.  Now, when did… She hadn’t seen Alya arrive yet.

Could she speed things up if she sent a message sooner, rather than asking Nino?

_Now, what else could she do?_

_“Chloe!”_ she snapped, as it _was_ Chloe with a pair of fingers out towards Mylene’s hair.

Chloe jumped, gave her the nasty look of someone caught doing something they weren’t supposed to, and strutted out of the room.

“What was that?” said Mylene.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Marinette, managing to haul her tone back to something below a life or death situation, “just Chloe being Chloe.”

“Oh.  Okay!” said Mylene, and after a glance back at her locker, bustled out of the room.

Well… She had the lockers to herself sooner than before.  Did that matter?  Maybe, but she didn’t have any plans for it right now.

She paced the room.  She needed to buy time, didn’t she?

She didn’t think that she could physically outpace the crowd with Alya; certainly not without trying to bolt before the end of class.  Of course, maybe that was the right choice.  It wasn’t like staying in class was worth more than a life, right?

What if…

The door opened, and she turned sharply.

“Good morning, Marinette,” said Adrien, “ready for the exam?”

She laughed, nervously, “The exam won’t be an issue.”

He laughed, lifting up his arm, “That’s the spirit!  I’m a bit nervous, but I’ve got your lucky charm, so, hopefully you’ve got some luck to spare.”

“Like I said, the exam won’t be the issue,” she said.  What was really stopping her from telling him her identity?  If this wasn’t the today that mattered, it wasn’t like…

No.  She’d _make_ today the day that mattered.

“Thanks,” he said, “I needed to hear that.”  He went to his locker.

No ‘lifesaver’ comment this time.  Well, color her disappointed.

That seemed strangely joking for the circumstances, but maybe that was just a side effect of the pressure.

She paced up and down the rows for maybe 30 more seconds, until.

“Marinette!?” called Alya, and she turned.

“ _Alya._ ”

“What’s wrong?”  By her tone, she was clearly expecting something minor.

She wasn’t going to get it.

“Alya, I need you to listen carefully,” she said, careful to keep her voice even and clearly _not_ hysterical.

“Okay?”

She took a breath.  Alya had believed her last time, right?

“A villain is going to attack at the end of first period, and she’s going to be coming for _you._ ”

…

“What?”

Marinette explained, quietly, carefully, until she knew that Alya believed her.

Minutes passed, and she watched the blood slowly drain from Alya’s face, thankfully not from the absolute terror of near-death this time.

Finally, she stood there, wide-eyed.

After a long second, she nodded.

“Alright.  What’s the plan?”

…

It had taken some more convincing for Alya to believe that Ladybug wouldn’t be coming, but as the time in the class wound down, she’d realized that it wouldn’t matter.

“Alright,” she said, looking up at the clock, “We’re close.”

“Yeah, I know,” said Alya.  “I really wish you were the kind of person who’d lie about this.”

“Me too,” said Marinette.  “Alright, remember, we have maybe 20 seconds after the bell, and I don’t know what her eyesight is like.”

“I remember,” said Alya.

“And when I shout-

“I know,” said Alya.

“I know.  I know you know,” said Marinette, “I’ve just watched Chat Noir die too many times.  Watched you _almost_ die about as many.  I want this to be _over.”_

“Do you think this is the last one?”

She shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I hope so.”

A second of silence.

Two.

Three.

The bell rang.

Marinette stood, grabbing her backpack.  It wouldn’t help her, but it might help Alya.

She stepped past Alya, who was already low to the ground, sliding herself under her desk.

Nino looked back, and his expression went still.  “Where’d Alya go?”

“She’s out in the hallway,” said Marinette, the answer easy to give after rehearsing what was to follow.

“Oh,” he said, turning to the door, “Adrien just reminded me about something she’d have wanted to hear.  People were beginning to pass by the windows.  Marinette’s eyes flicked to the other window.

People were backing away, and she could make out a large shape.

There was a _smash,_ glass clattering to the ground, and Marinette _bolted._

There were screams, filling the room around her.  She had to push Adrien out of the way, but that didn’t matter.

A shout of rage from Rachna.

“Alya, run!” she shouted, calling ahead of her, into the hallway.

A triumphant cry, Rachna successfully picking the call out of the crowd.

She knocked against the doorframe as Rachna practically ran her over, so big she knocked against both sides of the door, and had to duck underneath it.

“Get to the bathrooms!” she shouted, and a flick of her eyes revealed Rachna staring at her, grinning.

A quirk of the eyebrows, a sneered thanks, and she leaped over the railing, onto the ground below.

A shout of pain, someone who hadn’t quite gotten out of the way.

Marinette forced her way to her feet, and rushed to the stairs.

It wasn’t as hard as it might have been; nobody wanted to be downstairs with the monster.

_Except for her._

By the time she got down the stairs, the floor was deserted, even the one who’d been hit successfully out of sight.

There was a screech of rage.

_“Where is she!”_

Marinette was having second thoughts about this plan, but it didn’t matter, because Rachna was already back in the courtyard.

_“You!”_

“Yup.  I’m surprised you didn’t figure out I was lying.  Doesn’t it take one to know one?”

Rachna froze.

“I was here for her, and the Miraculouses.” She cracked her neck, but it bent just a bit too deep.  “I doubt Hawkmoth minds one more, though.”

“You wouldn’t have a broken reputation if it wasn’t built on lies,” Marinette managed.  Somehow, it seemed much harder to taunt the giant monster when it was in front of her.

With an impossibly fast lunge, Rachna was on her, a flare of silver coming for-

There was the clatter of metal on metal _._

“Easy there,” said Chat Noir, voice easy but, on the edge of hearing, _hard,_ “I don’t think you’re here to fight _her.”_

“Chat Noir,” said Rachna, “And where’s Ladybug.”

“She’ll be here in time for cleanup,” he said, and jumped forward.

There was a tingle in the air, just like when Plagg had broken time, but-

Chat Noir gasped, as the air was driven from his lungs.

The crackle wasn’t just the air anymore.  His suit was disintegrating around him, and…

He fell forward, face down, away from her.

The suit was gone, and…  White shirt, blue jeans, _familiar._ Plagg had said she’d known him, so why didn’t she-

Time _cracked._


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette goes around again.

“Ladybug,” said Plagg.  “You want to fix this, don’t…”

He turned to look at her.  He closed his eyes for an instant.

“Three times, going on four, right?”

She nodded.

He considered, and… “Okay.  Could be worse.  What do you need?”

“I need,” she clenched her fist.  “I need to know who he is.”

“Can’t say his name out loud.  Can’t really say much about him.  He’s-

“Stop,” she said, “that’s what you said last time.”

Plagg shrugged.  “I can’t say any more _this_ time than I did last time, what do you want?”

“I want… Why can’t I recognize him?  You said I knew him.  I _do._ ”

He gave her an aggravated look.  “This is why I say you humans are blind.  You’ve got a good chance at figuring out who he is if you see his face or if you’re told by someone who knows.  Besides that, good luck.”

_Crack._

“So…”

“So…” he looked down at Chat Noir, figure distorted through the bounds of the bubble.  “You might have to do _this_ again.”  He blinked.  “Why couldn’t you tell before?  Does he always fall on his face?”

She shook her head.  “Cataclysm.”

“Ah…  Well, if it helps, you’re not on the edge yet.  You can afford to…” he shrugged.

“Let him die again?”

Plagg gave her an unimpressed look.  “Not like it’s anything new at this point.”

“But… _Knowing_ he’ll die this time.”

“If it ups the chances he makes it out next time, does it matter?  This is all going to get erased _anyway_.”

_Crack._

“And, speaking of which,” he said, grimacing.  “Looks like I’m out of time.  Try to fix things quickly.”

Burning, searing-

…

Marinette woke up, not feeling very well rested.

She was definitely developing a vendetta against that _song._   Clara Nightingale was fine for listening to, but she wasn’t the best soundtrack for trying to save your partner’s life over a time loop.

Yes, fine, you find a way to save the day.  Been there, still there, _currently_ _doing_ that.

There wasn’t even the moment of confusion.

At least, no confusion about her memories.

There was… Chat Noir.

According to Plagg, if she wanted a chance to figure out who he was, she had to let him die again.

But… The problem was, even fighting her hardest against it, she couldn’t help a twist of guilt every time.  If she _let_ it happen…

But… What else did she have to go on?

If… If she could find out where the Akuma was… She might be able to do that.

Her phone buzzed, and she hissed under her breath.

She was behind.

One way or another, she _had_ to be at school today.

She vaulted off of her bed, and landed, pulling on clothes like it was a normal day at school and she’d woken up late, rather than still _early._

She bolted out the door, taking a bite of the bread her father had once again tossed her.

_But… What point was there in running?_

_Did she even have a plan?_

_Chat Noir.  Did she let him die?_

_Could she… Reset things so he’d have a better chance?  Or even just a different chance._

_Okay.  Okay.  The plan today, was simple.  All she had to do, was make sure that she got a good look at Rachna.  The Akuma was on her somewhere, right?  It was an object, too.  The problem was, she’d been a bit distracted the last, oh,_ few _times she’d met Rachna._

If this was another case like Dark Owl…

_The blood drained from her face, even as she ran._

_She shook it off.  She couldn’t afford to think that._

_If it was, they’d already lost.  The Akuma could have been anywhere, and even if it was in Lila’s room, where did she live?  How would Marinette get there?_

_What if she just got into a fistfight with Lila?  Could she distract the Akuma?_

_Would it even help if she did?_

_If she figured out the Akuma… Would she still have to watch Chat Noir die?_

_Would she-_

“Oh hey, Marinette!” said Adrien, entering the school next to her, “Are you ready for-

“The test?” she said, “Of course, and I’ve got luck to spare for the charm, too.”

He pulled back, shocked.

“Well,” he said, and recovering into a smile, “Thanks Marinette, you’re-

“A real lifesaver, I know,” she said.

He seemed confused.  “That’s what I was going to say!”

“I’m sure it was,” she said, “and now, if you’ll excuse me, Alya should be coming in right about-

“Marinette?” came the voice.

“There she is.”  She turned.

Alya opened her mouth to speak, but- “Alya.  Yes!  I live!  Up early for once, and I need to talk to you.”

Adrien, visibly confused by her manner, walked away, to the lockers.

“Have I gotten that predictable?”

“Took the words right out of your mouth, didn’t I.  Yeah, there’s a reason for that.”

You wouldn’t think it was possible to be blasé about convincing someone that you were in a time loop, and yet…

During class, Marinette wasn’t paying attention to anything around her.  Why would she?  She knew what she needed to, and it wasn’t like she was going to learn Chat Noir’s identity or the position of the Akuma from here.

The problem was, the same as it had been 20 minutes ago, and she couldn’t hope to figure out an answer while she was waiting on a crucial piece of information.  If the Akuma was easy to grab, maybe she wouldn’t even need to spend a day figuring out his identity.  Maybe she could get through this without even _compromising_ it.  That had been her goal for over a year now, hadn’t it?

When she was worrying over her problems, time passed, but when she stalled… The waiting was interminable.  Alya kept shooting her worried glances, and stealing looks up at the clock.

Marinette didn’t need to.

At this point, she could recognize the tone Max took when he was wrapping up his review with Kim even without listening.  It was like getting to the part in a song that you knew; it stuck out.

“Bell rings soon,” she said, “Probably less than a minute.  You remember what to do?”

Alya nodded.

Marinette took a deep breath, hoping, against hope, that maybe things would just _work out_ this time.

The bell rang.  Alya dropped.

Marinette stood, already making for the door.

Nino looked back, and his expression went still.  “Where’d Alya go?”

“Hallway,” said Marinette

“Oh,” he said, turning to the door, “Adrien just reminded me about something she’d have wanted to hear.”  People were beginning to pass by the windows.

3.

2.

1.

_Smash._

Marinette bolted.

There were screams, filling the room around her.  She had to push Adrien out of the way, but that didn’t matter.

A shout of rage from Rachna, probably, on second hearing, because she hadn’t found her prey in the crowd.

Marinette could ‘fix’ that.

“Alya, run!” she shouted, calling ahead of her, into the hallway.

A triumphant cry, Rachna once again picking the call out of the crowd.

She knocked against the doorframe as Rachna practically ran her over, so big she knocked against both sides of the door, and had to duck underneath it.

“Get to the bathrooms!” she shouted, and a flick of her eyes revealed Rachna staring at her, grinning.

Marinette stared back.  Everything was a bit blurred from the confusion.

Burning red skin, with the same hair Lila usually had, now pure white.  No earrings, no-

_Was that-_

A quirk of the eyebrows, a sneered thanks, and she leaped over the railing, onto the ground below.

A shout of pain, someone who hadn’t quite gotten out of the way.

She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she’d seen-

She stared over the railing.

For something so large, her legs still got up an impressively agile turn of speed, out of sight into the bathrooms before Marinette could examine her closer..

Marinette stood, staring down, the only still point in the panicked crowd.

_Not again._

But she didn’t have a choice.

With a groan, she ran for the stairs.

She needed to be up close to Rachna to make sure that she could trust her eyes, and for that…

She had to do exactly what she’d done yesterday, and follow the path that she already knew left her partner dead.

She made it to the courtyard as Rachna screamed from the bathrooms.

Marinette took a deep breath, and waited.

1.

2.

3-

The door slammed open, knocking against the wall, and she stared up at her enemy.

“Good morning, Lila.”

_Legs, body, unadorned._

She hissed.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the girl who never trusted me.  Constantly slandered me.”

_Hair, face, unmarked._

“I think it only counts as _slander_ if it’s a lie.”

_The needle, nondescript, a simple spike of silver._

“Bold words for a clumsy girl in your situation.  You’re willing to die for this?”

_And there, at her neck…_

“Nice necklace,” she said, not responding to the question, nor the buzzing sensation in her finger tips.  “It’s the same one from when you were Volpina, isn’t it?”

_A fang, twisted out of shape, a network of lines across it like a spider web._

Rachna, _Lila,_ grinned.  “Do you think you can take it?”

_Bingo._

She jabbed upwards.  “Or do you think _he_ will?”

Right.  Chat Noir hadn’t come down yet.  That was good, right?  He was closer to the time limit; the buzzing was stronger now, almost a static in her ears.

She laughed, an ugly sound.  “I can _see_ you sneaking around up there, _Chat Noir_.”

“I’ll have you know,” he said from above, “I never sneak.  I just reposition myself.”

“Are you sure you have time for that?”

_Did she see it too, or-_

Marinette dove to the side, and gasped in pain, as the needle pierced her arm.

Ungraceful, and caught like a fish on a hook, she flopped to the ground, and rolled onto her back.

She managed to focus, through the pain, as Chat Noir landed on Rachna.

She couldn’t quite make out what happened for the next few seconds, a problem made worse by the now painfully loud static in her ears, but she still couldn’t deny what she saw when Chat Noir staggered back.

Her vision was pulling apart at the edges, pure white.

Eyes wide, ignoring the pain, she stared, as the suit disintegrated, Chat Noir still with his back to her.

_She needed to see his face, she needed to-_

“Wh-“ started Rachna, and disintegrated like smoke in a heavy wind.

There was no time to wonder why, as she lunged forward, and pulled at the back of his shirt.

Time had gone liquid, as the face slowly came into view.

Time _cracked_ , and she was staring into the unseeing eyes of Adrien Agreste.


	5. Intermission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She has all the pieces.  
> She has the will to win.  
> And she has just a few minutes before she needs to get to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to skip over this bubble, but somebody was interested by her reaction to finding out it was Adrien, and I realized it made sense to have it as a little intermission before she gets to work in earnest.  
> Mind you, I mean it when I say little; don't go getting your hopes up for a full chapter.

Marinette froze.

_Adrien Agreste._

_Adrien._

_Adrien Agreste._

_Adrien?_

_Ad-_

“What!?”

“I’m giving you a chance to…”  Plagg trailed off.  “Oh.  Never mind, you already know.”

“I know-“ she gasped as the _hole in her arm_ reminded her of its presence.  A deep breath.  “I know about the time… Thing.  I _didn’t_ know that _Adrien Agreste_ was… Was…!”

“See, that’s why I say you humans are blind, because-

“Because we can’t tell until we see their face, I _know_ , you _said._ ”

Plagg gave her a look.  “Ah.  Getting _annoyed_ now.”

“Of course I am!  I’ve lived through the same day 4 times in a row, and I _still_ can’t save Chat Noir!”

Plagg rolled his eyes.  “Yeah, and you expect me to believe you’ve made no progress?  I’ve seen you work.  You might be blind, but you’re not an idiot.”

“It’s _Adrien Agreste_ who keeps dying in front of me!  Who’s idea was it for _him_ to sign up to die?  Of _all people._ ”

“His… After the first day.  It could be you just as easily.  Of course, he’d have a harder time, because-  Anyway.  The point is, you know.”

“I do,” she said, looking back.

Nobody had been close enough for her to see them frozen in time before.

Adrien Agreste, falling backwards, expression shocked but not pained, shirt flaring.  The only sign anything was wrong was a thin stream of red from an almost invisible hole at his chest.

And facing him…

She’d never seen a villain disintegrate like this before.  It was like Chat Noir’s death had been an explosion, shredding the dark cloud that surrounded her, blowing it away like nothing more than a few wisps of fog.

She could just make out Lila’s face behind, eyes wide in shock, recoiling as if she’d been the one who’d taken the hit.

And behind… The distortion began in earnest, and everything became blurred beyond recognition.

“She didn’t vanish like this before,” said Marinette.  “Normally, she manages to threaten someone else first.”

Plagg didn’t say anything, and, looking over, she saw him floating over Adrien’s falling body.

“You’d better get him out of this alive,” said Plagg.  “And…” he sighed, looking up, “Tikki’ll have my head if you die saving him, so you’d better get out alive too.”

“I know,” said Marinette.

“Good.”  Plagg bowed his head, a hand pressed onto Adrien’s chest.

After a second, he straightened up.

“Now.  Any last questions.”

Marinette closed her eyes, and tried to tighten her fists, only to wince in pain as it aggravated her arm.

“No.”

“You’d better be ready, then.  If you don’t fix this soon, thing’s’ll get _bad._ ”

She nodded.  “I’m ready.”

She met his gaze.  He grinned.   “Good.”

His eyes flared green.

Everything went white.


	6. The Final Countdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is determined to save Chat Noir or die trying.  
> She has all the pieces she needs, and even though her plan runs the razor's edge of possibility, surely her sharp eye for strategy and the edge she has over Rachna mean that she's perfectly cut out to take the victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, what the last chapter lost in length, this one makes up.  
> Buckle up, readers! It's the climax!

_Shut up, Clara._

She practically vaulted out of her bed, stumbling and falling face-first onto the chaise.

That didn’t matter.

_First things first._

She pulled out her phone.

 

MariDC:  Alya

MariDC: Get to school, now.

MariDC: This is urgent.

_ACes:  You’re up early_

MariDC: I am, and I need to talk to you, immediately.  In person.

_ACes: OK?  Where?_

MariDC: Locker rooms.

_ACes: Also, can you bring your notes for 2 nd period?_

_ACes: Mine went missing_

MariDC: Fine.

MariDC: Just get there fast.

 

She switched the chat.

She knew Alya.  Alya would be there quickly.

Adrien…

She was going to make it obvious she knew who he was, so she might as well-

No, no, no, what was she saying!?  His father probably monitored his texts!  Even if time itself was looping, it didn’t pay to get sloppy.

She considered for a second.

 

MariDC: If you can get to school early, I need to talk to you.

MariDC: Meet me in the lockers.

MariDC: It’s urgent.

 

No response.

She’d just have to hope she hadn’t somehow done the _opposite_ of what she’d wanted.

Speaking of what she wanted…

Technically, she’d probably be just as effective in her pajamas, but the less she changed what had happened on previous days, the better she’d be able to predict what she needed to do.

_Clothes, on.  Lunch… Grabbed.  Feet, moving._

She ran for the school, eating the same bread she’d eaten for the past 4 days.

 _She had to have been awake for at least 8 hours by now, if she strung everything together._ For a normal day, that wouldn’t have been anything too bad, but _this_ was something else.  A combination of constant terror and the inevitable boredom of dealing with the exact same circumstances in almost imperceptibly different permutations.

It would have been so much easier if she’d been able to skip forward, but unfortunately, skipping forward wasn’t exactly something she was capable of.

…

It was minutes later, and she’d delivered a sharp _smack_ to Chloe’s hand as she’d attempted to mess with Mylene’s hair.

 _“_ Ex _cuse_ me!?  Did you just lay a hand on me!?  Me!?”

Marinette managed to contain the anger of having to deal with the _exact same issue_ two days in a row.

“ _Chloe._   If you want to plot your revenge, please schedule it for after second period, and _for now, leave._   I need the room.”

“The _locker_ room?”

“Yes, the locker room,” she stared for an instant, and then laughed, leaning forward.  “It’s all I can afford.”

“Wh-  I-  Hah,” Chloe seemed half amused by the joke, if it could be called one, and half affronted by Marinette being in her face.  It took her a second, but she rallied, and, putting her nose in the air, turned away with a scoff.  She walked out of the locker room (following Mylene who had taken the distraction as an opportunity to get away from the conflict) just as Adrien entered.

He looked after Chloe, and after she had left, simply stood, obviously at a loss.

“Marinette?” he said.

“Adrien.”

“Wh… What’s this about?”

“If you could come a bit closer so people outside can’t hear you?”

“Uhhh,” he said, and… _Terror,_ that was the word for his expression.  But still, he took a few steps closer.

“Well,” she said, “I’ll just say it outright.”  She took a breath.  “I’m trying to save your life.”

He blinked, expression otherwise frozen.

“What?”

“At the end of first period, a villain attacks.  Chat Noir dies.  I know _that’s you.”_

He was recoiling slightly.

“I know that’s a lot to take in, but there’s more.  I was… Nearby, when you died.  Plagg sent me back to fix things.”

“Pl-  You-“ his eyes were wide, and he might have been shaking.

“Plagg?” she said, “tell him.”

A second, and Plagg floated into view.

“Well…” he said, “I don’t remember.  She’s definitely telling the truth, though.”

“I _die?”_

She nodded.

“O… Okay.  And… You’re here to make that _not_ happen?”

“Exactly.”

“Um… Um, um.” He looked up.  “You… Kind of know Ladybug, right? Does _she_ know?”

“Ladybug doesn’t get here in time to help,” she said.

“That can’t be…” his shoulders slumped.  “Okay.  Do we… Do we have a plan?”

“Marinette!”

“Yes we do,” said Marinette.  “I’ve just got to get Alya up to speed first.  Sorry to share, but it’s important.”

“What’s important?”

…

The plan had been percolating through her head for… Well, almost eight hours.

“So, here’s what I’ve got,” she said.

“The villain’s going to attack at the end of 1st period.  Rachna.  Big, spidery… Out for blood.”

//

_Marinette was almost calm this time._

_She knew what to do.  Alya knew what to do.  And this time, Chat Noir knew what to do._

_The clock ticked down the last minute._

_Nino had figured out that Adrien was out of it, but, of course, didn’t know why._

_The bell rang, and Marinette stood up._

//

“The first, and most important thing, is that Alya gets down, under the desk.”

“Why?”

“Same reason you had to know about this.  Rachna’s coming for you.”

“Coming for me?”  Alya cast about, but “Why?”

“You posted a particularly unflattering article about her yesterday.”

“…Oh.”

“I can handle the next part.”

//

_“Alya, run!” she shouted, calling ahead of her, into the hallway._

_A triumphant cry, Rachna successfully picking the call out of the crowd._

_She knocked against the doorframe as Rachna practically ran her over, so big she knocked against both sides of the door, and had to duck underneath it._

_“Get to the bathrooms!” she shouted, and a flick of her eyes revealed Rachna staring at her, grinning._

_She turned over, looking back at Adrien, who she hadn’t knocked aside this time.  She nodded._

_He made to follow her, despite Nino reaching after him._

//

“I don’t know _how_ you get transformed,” she said, “but you’ve managed it the past four times, so-

“ _Four times!?”_ cut in Adrien.  He looked down.  “I’ve died four times?”

“No,” she said, and he looked up.  “Right now, you haven’t died at all.  You’re still alive.  We’re going to keep you that way.”

He closed his eyes, and nodded, slowly.

~~“Now, it usually takes you a little bit to get transformed,” she said, “but that’s fine, just so long as you transform as soon as possible-~~

~~//~~

~~Marinette stood in the middle of the courtyard, as Rachna emerged once again.~~

~~“Good morning, Lila,” she said.~~

~~“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the girl who never trusted me.  Constantly slandered me.”~~

~~“It’s not slander if it’s-~~

~~“ _And_ Chat Noir, I see.  You’re here early.  A shame you won’t be around for your partner.”~~

~~She gave Marinette a menacing look.~~

~~“You’ll get what’s coming to you in just a second.  For now, though…”~~

~~Leap, duel, _stab._~~

~~//~~

“Now, it usually takes you a little bit to get transformed,” she said, “but that’s fine.  We actually need you to _not_ transform immediately.”

“You mean… Wait?”

“Exactly.  You can’t draw her attention until I’ve already got her captivated.”

“How will I know when to transform?”

Marinette considered.

//

“It’s not slander if it’s _accurate,”_ she said.

“Bold words for a clumsy girl in your position,” said Rachna, “you’re willing to die for this?”

“Actually,” said Marinette, “I’ve got a few _questions_ , before I die.”

“Questions?”

Marinette backed away as quickly as she thought she could get away with without looking like she was running.

“Exactly.”

“And do they have _anything_ to do with the fact that Chat Noir is waiting for me up there?”

She glanced up.  She was almost in the shadow of the upper layer.

//

“When you say ‘questions,’” he said.  “Okay.  And, if I wait until then, she won’t jump for me?”

“ ~~She shouldn’t~~

“She won’t.  It’ll give me enough time to get her attention properly.”

“So… I jump down then?”

~~“Exactly.”~~

~~//~~

~~“Well,” he said, “I suppose you’ve spotted me.  I guess it’s all the eyes.”~~

~~He vaulted the railing, almost directly above her, and came down to-~~

~~Skewered.~~

~~//~~

“Right.  Just… Make sure you’re not jumping _on_ her.  I think I can avoid that one, if I-

//

Marinette backed away, _slowly_.  _Very_ slowly.

“Exactly.”

“And do they have _anything_ to do with the fact that Chat Noir is waiting for me up there?”

She glanced up.   _Perfect_.  Well, perfect for a value of perfect that wasn’t dealing with the way the world had started _blurring_ before her eyes recently.  (And, of course, things had started crackling as they reached the boundary where things would reset)

“Well,” said Chat Noir, “I suppose you’ve spotted me.  I guess it’s all the eyes.”

He leaped, and… She let out the breath, _landed._

Rachna was unimpressed.  “I have _two eyes._ ”

“Well, you know what I mean,” said Chat Noir.  “Maybe it’s the legs instead.”

//

“And then…  She’ll be distracted.  It’ll look like we’ve got all of our eggs in one basket.  She’ll have us cornered.”

Adrien gave her a sidelong look.  “And we _want_ that?”

“Definitely. She’ll let her guard down.  She won’t be expecting us to have that as our _plan.”_

“So… What?”

//

They retreated, step by careful step, and Rachna followed.

“So this is it.  Marinette, and Chat Noir, without even the graces of Ladybug to defend them.”

“No.  You’re right,” said Marinette.  “Ladybug isn’t coming.  But that doesn’t mean you’ve won.”

“Oh really,” said Rachna, grinning wide, needle-point swinging just a _little_ too close.  “And what _exactly_ do you intend to do?”

“ _Nothing,”_ said Marinette, smiling.

~~There was moment of silence.~~

~~“Fine then,” said Rachna and rushed forward.~~

~~Pushed aside by Chat Noir, the plan coming to fruition just a _little_ late, and _stab-_~~

//

“And,” said Marinette pointedly, “there will be a _signal for this._   If she asks what we intend to do, and I say nothing _,_ _that is the signal._ If she doesn’t ask, I’ll still try to find a way to fit it in, okay?”

//

“Oh really,” said Rachna, grinning wide, needle-point swinging just a _little_ too close.  “And what _exactly_ do you intend to do?”

Marinette didn’t smile this time.

_“Nothing.”_

There was a moment of silence.

“Fine then,” said Rachna, and-

Rachna, just barely underneath the balcony, didn’t see her.  She didn’t see Alya descending from on high like an avenging angel.  She barely had time to register what could best be described as a battle cry, before Alya had come down close enough to touch her human back.  Close enough, that was, to grab the necklace.

But the lunge was already begun.

In unison, the needle came forward, and Alya _pulled._

Marinette, frozen in place simply from lack of _time,_ could barely turn her head close enough to see…

Another.  8 times.

She’d seen him die 8 times now.

Rachna disintegrated, even as Chat Noir’s suit did, and it was as Lila opened her eyes that time _cracked,_ what felt like mere seconds from the edge, everything ablaze before her eyes with the crackling power of a cataclysm _._

And when time cracked…

Everything was still again.  Warped, but almost mundane.

Plagg was floating there, just as he always was.

“Kid,” he said.

She stayed silent.

Plagg heaved a shuddering sigh, and looked up at her.  Wisps of black smoke were curling off of him, and he was shaking as he looked at her.

She’d seen it on the last few times around, but this was worse.  He seemed to be fraying at the edges.

“I can’t keep doing this.  Any more, time comes apart, or… I don’t know.  You’ve got… _One more chance._ ”

“We were close.”

“I know.  Ohhh, I know.”

“One more, then.  I can do it.  I _will_ do it.”

“Cutting it close.  Well, I won’t say you’re not living up to the myth.”  He laughed, barely able to muster anything.

“Myth?”

He gave her a grin, even as the bubble collapsed around them.  “You know.  The one where I give people nine lives?”

//

She was able to get to school perfectly by now.  She’d refined things to a science.  A few tweaks had left the talk with Chloe almost pleasant.  Adrien didn’t enter _terrified_ now.  He seemed more curious.

Convincing them had become steadily easier, too.  The hard part was…

What did she need to change?  What did she tell them?

She was out of _chances._   If she was going to do this, she had to find the last change to make.

And it was as she’d reached the end of her plan, the part where the change would sit, that she realized she didn’t have to change anything in _their_ plans.

This one…

This one was on _her._

//

“Oh really,” said Rachna, grinning wide, needle-point swinging just a _little_ too close.  “And what _exactly_ do you intend to do?”

Marinette didn’t smile this time.

 _“Nothing,”_ she lied.

There was a moment of silence.

“Fine then,” said Rachna, and-

Rachna, just barely underneath the balcony, didn’t see her.  She didn’t see Alya descending from on high like an avenging angel.  She barely had time to register what could best be described as a battle cry, before Alya had come down close enough to touch her human back.  Close enough, that was, to grab the necklace.

But the lunge was already begun.

_Just like it had last time._

In unison, the needle came forward, and Alya _pulled._

_Just like it had last time._

Marinette’s motions were calm this time.

Chat Noir was heavy, and difficult to push.

She knew that.

She also knew that it meant that it would take her full force to have a _chance_ to move him.

And she knew…

She knew that to move him, she’d have to be pressed up against him.  She’d be right where _he’d_ been.

There was a flash of silver.

It didn’t matter.

Chat Noir was out of the way.

Chat Noir had survived.

But as for Marinette...


	7. A Stitch in Time, Saves Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette, bleeding out, has one final job to do.

The needle slipped its way into her stomach with the same sense of impossibility she’d felt when Chat Noir had died the first time.

Her only sensation was the _pull_ against her motion as it dragged against her.

And then, with a sound like a pane of glass breaking in reverse, everything snapped into focus.

“And we’re back.” said Plagg, voice echoed.  He looked around.  “Now how many…”

Her head spun as fragments of her vision took in Plagg, and looking around, saw herself.  Marinette, and Marinette, and… Ladybug.

The pain in her stomach was almost a phantom sensation, and, somehow leaden.

 “There’s only eight of me, but _nine_ of you,” he muttered, voices in unison, “so _he_ must have made it out at least once.  So as long as _…_ ” The eight other versions of her turned to look, and her vision swam as she realized she was seeing through _all_ of their eyes.  _Her_ eyes.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said, zipping up to her face.  _Her_ face, being… Well, the one who’s eyes were having trouble staying open.

“No no no, Tikki’ll kill me if…”

He looked at her carefully,

“Alright.  Listen closely, because things are about to starting falling back into place.  I said if you split things too close, you’d be stuck _picking_ one.  That’s… Not exactly true, but the other option gets _dicey._ ”

“What do you mean, other option,” she said, voice coming somewhere behind her.

“I mean,” he said, pulling back, “that time isn’t as solid as you think.  You can split it, and…”  He sighed, “you can pull it apart, and put it back together.”

“ _What.”_

“It should be impossibly complicated, but that’s the thing you humans have; you’re good at patterns.  A person isn’t just a random collection of matter; they’re a _chunk,_ that you can remove and replace.”

“This is,” she started, and shuddered, her body, the stabbed one, rebelling against life.

“You make clothes, right?  Same thing.  Something’s wrong, you break it down, and put it back together how you want it _.”_

_“How.”_

“Tikki always says… You’ve got to reach out.  You won’t be doing it with your hands, but it’ll help you find what you’re looking for.”

 _“Reach out…?”_  Marinette sat there, unsteady on her knees, and watched herself reach a hand slowly out.

There wasn’t anything there, as her hand closed-

There was a tug in her gut as…

Her vision was a mess, as if several slides had been placed into the same slot in a projector.

“There it is,” said Plagg, voice slowly fading away. “Just... Pick what you want.”

_She was staring up at Lila, about to do to her what she’d done to Chat Noir- At Alya, on the edge of death- At a figure, which she now knew to be Adrien- Into Adrien’s eyes as he fell backwards- At the balcony, where Adrien had fallen forward limply onto the needle- At Adrien’s discarded body, flung aside as Rachna came for her- At Lila, eyes still closed as the transformation left her- At Lila, opening her eyes to the sight of her longtime enemy in front of her, bleeding._

_Too much._

It was…   Too much.

She wanted to give up.  To…

No.

Marinette collectively took a breath.

She needed only one where _she_ was alive.  Only one where _Adrien_ was alive.

Alya had only come close to death _once,_ but that time had nothing she wanted _._   Rachna had only been defeated twice, and one of those was the time that Adrien had survived.

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 closed their eyes.

Three worlds.

She could almost see them all at once, and…

A crackle, and Lila’s eyes opened the rest of the way, the world shuddering as the times synchronized.

Good, good-

_Bad._

There was a flicker.  She’d dismissed 6 of herself, but the ninth, the one where she’d managed to save Adrien, was beginning to go out.

She was running low on time, and not just because the world was trying to come back to life.

She focused.  She was in three bodies, in three separate timelines, but it wasn’t any of _them_ walking through the gym.

The air was crackling with what felt like static, probably the buzz of billions of air molecules choosing a position.

Lila… Lila was more present than Rachna.  After all, there _were_ two of her there.  Even if Marinette didn’t _touch_ her, she’d probably still be the one that returned.

As for Adrien...  No, no, she had to be careful.  There were two of him, so close together; it would likely be one of them, and if it was the wrong one…

Her head was beginning to spin, with what was probably blood loss.

First things first.

She reached out a hand to Lila, and _focused._

A _crack_ of lightning.

Rachna was gone.  There was only Lila, now, slightly blurred where she stood, but definitely _only_ Lila.

As for Adrien...

Okay.

She had to let-

It was difficult to pick the right one.  The two of her were so close together, and the one she needed awake wanted to sleep more than the one she needed to discard.

A deep breath, and…

She opened her eyes.

She was still tired.

The ninth was still alive.

There were only two of her now.  The first, and the last.

Ladybug stared at the needle coming for her.

Marinette stared at Lila.

_Adrien._

_Adrien was the last thing she needed._

She walked over.

There they were, blurred, fading, but definitely still there.

_Adrien._

She focused on him, feeling another burst, like the one from Lila, waiting to happen.

_She felt it twice._

She was close, so close to the burst.  She could feel herself sitting on the cusp, to be the one that was chosen to continue.

She placed her hand on Chat Noir, on _Adrien_ , and breathed, slowly and evenly.

In her own arm, she could feel the tension rising.

He was fading quickly, on the very _verge_ of-

Lightning _cracked._

Marinette’s eyes were clenched shut.

Slowly, she opened them.

Adrien was in front of her, pushed aside by…

Empty space.

Rachna had stabbed empty space.

The tiredness was gone with the dying body it had come from.

Only Ladybug was left, solid, and real.

Adrien was alive.

Alya was safe.

Rachna was defeated.

And she…

Marinette relaxed, and let the tension in time _snap._

There was a single, monumental, flare of lightning, to her eyes, and then, just as it had always been before, her senses were _burning,_ and she seemed to be tumbling into nonexistence.

…

_“So that’s all it takes,” said Rachna.  “I’ll have to try it again.”_

_Marinette looked up, to see the needle coming up, and she couldn’t stop it, she didn’t have time, or the mind, or-_

Rachna was gone.

Alya was standing with Lila, a broken necklace in her hand.

Chat Noir fell to the ground, shoved by a nonexistent force.

Her mind was a blur, but she still knew what she saw.

_“No more evildoing for you, little Akuma…”_

There was no lucky charm.

Against all odds, there was no _need_ for a lucky charm.

As the butterfly flapped away, Ladybug stood, for an instant.

Everything was silent, until-

“Ladybug!”

She looked up, at Chat Noir.

“You’re here!  Where were you?  Where did you come from?”

She sighed.  “I…  I’ll tell you about it later.  For now… I need to get going.”

 _“What!?_   Why?”

But she was already leaving.

Better they question why she was leaving than where Marinette was.

She reversed her path, in, down, and out of the bathroom.

To her great relief, nobody was in the bathroom, and nobody seemed surprised to see her running out.

She arrived in the courtyard, a bit out of breath from the dash, but otherwise intact.

Strange.  She’d just seen them a few seconds ago, but, maybe it was because Ladybug hadn’t ‘been there’ per se.  _Chat Noir was alive._   _Adrien was alive._

Alya was sprinting towards her, but Chat Noir was faster.

She was wrapped up in a painfully tight hug, off her feet, in an instant.

She gasped, managing to return a faint equivalent of the gesture.

And then, of course, Alya made it to her, and another of her best friends was holding onto her as tight as they were physically able to.

For a second, stunned by the force, she couldn’t speak.

 _“Easy, easy, I can’t breathe!”_   she managed, eventually.

They slowly let go, and as she pulled back slightly, and managed a breath, she saw that Chat Noir’s eyes were shining.

His voice was thick, and almost too quiet to hear as he spoke.  _“I thought you were-“_ he shivered.  _“You pushed me out of the way.”_

“Of course I did,” she said, smiling as she reached up a hand, running a finger through his hair.  “You didn’t think I was planning to give up without saving you, did you?”

 _“But-“_ he swallowed, and nodded, _“There was some other way out?”_

“I’m as surprised as you are,” she said, “All I knew was… It was my last chance to save you, so I _had_ to do it.”

“ _You… You pushed me out of the way without even knowing if you’d make it out alive.”_   With a suddenness that shocked her, he was once again squeezing the breath out of her.

He didn’t say anything, but she could feel him shaking as he stood there.

“It’s okay,” she said, quiet in his ear.  “We can talk about it later.  For now, Nino’s going to be wondering where you went.  He might not know about what happened, but he’ll still be worried.”

He sighed, and nodded.

Once again, he let go.

They _would_ talk about it.

They would talk about _everything._ Was Plagg okay?  Tikki?  Would there be any lasting effects?  Why had Rachna disintegrated when she’d seen it was Adrien?  And what about Lila?  Lila, who almost certainly planned to be Akumatized?

But… They would talk about it all.

And they’d have time.  Finally

The day passed in a hectic haze.  The exam was postponed, of course, but time passed, just the same.

And when she got home… She didn’t have the energy for anything else.

She’d been awake what must have been a full 24 hours, _already._   She wasn’t staying up any longer.

Tikki just gave her a smile as she fell forward onto her bed.

…

…

…

Marinette slept deeply, too tired to even dream.

She opened her eyes, an unfamiliar sound in her ears.

No… Not unfamiliar.

She knew this song.

And…  A gleeful grin spread across her face.

It had _nothing to do_ with Clara Nightingale.

 

_-The End_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you guys enjoyed the product my brain came up with at 10PM-3AM on a school night. I certainly have.  
> I have to recognize that this is a story that leaves a lot of loose ends, but suffice to say, they're loose ends that end up tied, and I have no intentions of writing further on this story.
> 
> Now, you might be looking at the chapters and say 'but it says this isn't the last chapter.' Believe me, this *is* the end. More to the point, this is one end. I wrote another one. The only reason I didn't use it was because, well... I'm not quite cruel enough to leave you with it, and I haven't developed the stomach for a 'bad' ending. Like I said on an earlier chapter, 'Bonus Content.'
> 
> However, if you don't want to deal with something like that, and you want something else with good amounts of both Plagg and scheming, I would offer you 'If You Want A Job Done Right...' which you can easily find in my other works.
> 
> As always, thank you for your comments, kudos, bookmarks, subscriptions and most simply of all, your views. Believe me, if this fic had never gotten a single view, I'd probably be only be halfway into the second chapter right now.


	8. Alternate Ending:  A Real Lifesaver

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonus Content: The ending where Marinette doesn't have the chance to unstitch and restitch time. This is a noncanonical ending (as much as 'noncanonical' is a thing when we're already in fanfiction)
> 
> Marinette doesn't have enough luck to spare for Chat Noir.  
> She gives it to him anyway.

The needle slipped its way into her stomach with the same sense of impossibility she’d felt when Chat Noir had died the first time.

Her only sensation was the _pull_ against her motion as it dragged against her.

And then, with a sound like a pane of glass breaking in reverse, everything snapped into focus.

“And we’re back.” said Plagg, voice echoed.  He looked around.  “Now how many…”

Her head spun as fragments of her vision took in Plagg, and looking around, saw herself.  Marinette, and Marinette, and… Ladybug.

The pain in her stomach was almost a phantom sensation, and, somehow leaden.

 “There’s only eight of me, but _nine_ of you,” he muttered, voices in unison, “so _he_ must have made it out at least once.  So as long as _…_ ” The eight other versions of her turned to look, and her vision swam as she realized she was seeing through _all_ of their eyes.  _Her_ eyes.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said, zipping up to her face.  _Her_ face, being… Well, the one who’s eyes were having trouble staying open.

She saw herself from so many angles she seemed less of an image, and more the object itself.  A girl, kneeling on the ground, swaying gently.

“ _Great,”_ he muttered, coming up to her face, the _her_ who was on her knees, breathing unsteadily.  “Listen, Ladybug, you’ve got to make it out of this, alright?”

“What do you mean?” came her own voice from behind her.  She’d never liked how it sounded in her own ears.

“I mean,” said Plagg, not looking away, “that Tikki’ll have my head if you go down here.  Y’gotta have mercy on me, right?”  The words sounded almost desperate.

Her vision swam, a fragment going grey.

“I need you to split things,” he said.  “You can _do that._   You just need to keep… _Chat Noir_ alive, then take a different one of yourself, alright?  Doesn’t matter which one, you’ve just got to unravel things and sew them back up.  That’s… That’s what you do, right?”

“I… I see,” came her voice, uncertain, from a different angle.

She shuddered, on her knees, blinking, uncertain whether her eyes would open again.

“ _Nononono,”_ said Plagg, wide-eyed, a paw pressing against her face, “ _you can’t sleep.  If you sleep…”_ He seemed to cast about.  “Tikki’ll say I can’t eat cheese!”  He hissed, “ _She doesn’t know about cheese, why would she care._  You’ve got to stay awake, or-“

She swayed, and suddenly, she was falling, falling…

From eight different angles, she saw herself sink to the ground.

Her eyes slowly opened again.  9 visions.

Plagg went stock still.

He was shaking.

“You’re the only one who made it out alive,” he said, “If you’re gone, you won’t have _access_ to that timeline.  He’ll _stay_ dead.  You have to stay alive long enough to change things, and-

“Plagg,” she said, and he froze.

“I understand.”

“But there’s not enough time.”

“Not for both of us.”

“But… You still bought us enough time to beat Rachna.”

“And I’m sure Tikki forgives you _.”_

Plagg groaned.  “ _No…_   You have to have enough time.  You’ve just got to… You’ve just…”  He stared at her, lying on the ground.

Her vision was going grey, now.  If she didn’t do something soon, she was going to lose her chance.

Plagg’s shoulders slumped.  “I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess.  Tikki…  She always made it clear that she thought highly of you.”  He looked up, and sighed, slowly.  “I just want you to know…  If I could… _Fix_ this, I’d do it, but…  Well… Kwami of destruction, right?”

“I know,” said Marinette.  A deep breath in, and, one by one, her vision went black, until… Her last sight was the world going grey, and then…

A flare, just like the last times, and her senses burned.

…

A black butterfly flapped away from Lila.

The pain was muted, her body not quite able to process it.

“Marinette!” Shouted Alya, running, dropping to her knees beside her.  A hand wrapped around hers, warm, and more real than any other sensation.

 _“Alya,”_ she managed. _“Listen.  The butterfly.  If hawkmoth copies it, it’ll be worse next time.”_

“Marinette, what are you talking about, I don’t care about-

 _“Shh,”_ she managed with a some degree of force.  Her hands were shaking as she reached up, and pulled off her earrings.  Alya’s eyes widened as she pressed them forward.  _“Sorry I couldn’t… Tell you s—”_ She swallowed, _“Sooner.”_

At a pressure on her other hand, the black blur in the corner of her vision suddenly resolved to-

“ _Chat noir_ ,” she said, and groaned.  “ _Alya.  No time.  Get the butterfly. I’ll be… I’ll be…  fine.”_ her voice was slowly leaving her.  “ _i’ll be here when you get back.”_

Alya’s face twisted, hand tightening enough that Marinette could have gasped with pain.

“You’d better be.  When you’re... Done, you’re saying goodbye first, and you’re _not saying goodbye today.”_

She tried to laugh but the sound came out as more of a grunt.  _“right.”_

Alya stood, visibly shaking, or… Maybe it was just her vision. 

She put in the earrings, and…

“Spots on.”

The Akuma would be handled, at least.

Good.

Good.

Then she could rest easy, with-

“No,” said Chat Noir.  _Adrien._ “Come on Marinette, you’re stronger than this.  You’re… _You’re Ladybug._   You can’t just…  You _can’t_.”

She let out a twisted semblance of a giggle, little more than a cough once the little air in her lungs had run out.

She wheezed in another breath, and managed to shift her head to face him.

“ _if i was, i’d have been able to save both of us.”_

“Then… When Alya sets things back, you just have to hold out until then, and-

 _“no lucky charm.  probably wouldn’t help.”_ She managed another breath.  _“its fine.  it’s worth it.  just… tell everyone i said goodbye, alright?”_

 _“Marinette,”_ he said, and by the break in his voice, and the way his body curled in on itself, she knew that he finally believed her.

 _“tell them, okay?”_ Her voice was almost inaudible, even to her own ears.

He bit his lip, eyes going closed.  Then, haltingly, he nodded.

 _“good.”_ Her vision was blurring, now.  He was close to her though, on his knees, and bent double.  His face was so close to hers.  She didn’t know how she’d ever missed who he was.  Who else would he have been?

The blur in her vision was more than just tears now, and the rest of her senses were going soft as well.  It was… Peaceful.

“ _love you,”_ she said, with the gentle _hmm_ of a laugh from the edge of consciousness.

She never got to hear him respond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, *now* we're done. End of content.
> 
> I guess I kind of already said my 'end of fic' stuff at the end of the last chapter, so I guess thanks for sticking around to the end. (The extra end, that is)


End file.
